# Biogas and biomethane

Biogas from digesting manure, food waste, crop residue and press mud, upgraded to biomethane (CBG in India); about 40-50 bcm-equivalent a year worldwide.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/

Capture · Bioenergy · No. 38

- Single chemical
- Feedstock: Crops and biomass
- about 40-50 bcm-equivalent of biogas and biomethane a year (about 29-36 Mt of methane, indicative); Europe 22 bcm (2024), of which biomethane 5.2 bcm
- 1.0 t CO₂e per t
 Capture · Bio-based chemicals · Foundation · Energy

Cow dung, sugar-mill mud and rotting food can heat homes and fuel buses with gas almost identical to natural gas.

Chart: Illustration: Biogas and biomethane

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Microbes digest wet waste without air for 20-60 days, giving a gas that is 50-65% methane; stripping out the CO2 turns it into grid-quality biomethane.

##### Three things to know

1. Europe produced 22 bcm of biogas and biomethane in 2024, about half the world total.
2. India's compressed biogas blending obligation rises from 1% in 2025-26 to 5% from 2028-29.
3. Of 42 million household digesters installed in China by 2015, about 30 million no longer work.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Wet waste**Manure, food waste, sewage, straw, press mud
2. 2 **Digestion**Microbes work 20-60 days at 35-55°C
3. 3 **Upgrading**CO2 and H2S removed, over 90% methane
4. 4 **Grid or cylinders**Injected or compressed to 200-250 bar
5. 5 **Digestate**Leftover slurry spread on fields as fertiliser

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Energy overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/energy/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/correlation/index.md)
- [Efficiency](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/efficiency/index.md)
- [Techniques](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/techniques/index.md)
- [Resources and labour](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/resources/index.md)
- [Impact on the biosphere](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/biosphere/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/overview/index.md)
- [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/routes/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/production/index.md)
- [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/feedstocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/movement/index.md)
- [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/regulation/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/biomethane/links/index.md)